This invention relates to the field of computer based music education, and more particularly to the provision of interactive music teaching tools over a communications network.
Learning to play an instrument is a complex and challenging task. Many music students find that it is relatively daunting to learn a sufficient level of instrumentation techniques in order to master even relatively simple musical works. That is, to develop proficiency in playing a musical instrument requires dedication, many hours of practise, and the application of proper playing techniques and methods.
There are a wide variety of teaching methods that are currently used to train music students. These include music books, audio tapes, CD ROMs, and video tapes. While each of these offers certain advantages, each is also limited in the quality of instruction or the manner in which the information is presented. While educating or training a person with the aid of a computer can be effective, many computer based music education products are very stark, linear and somewhat boring The reason for the failure of many of these music teaching products is that music is a socially interactive activity that requires hands on encouragement from a teacher or mentor to make the process meaningful.
Also, many computer based music training programs only provide a series of lessons which are considered xe2x80x9cself containedxe2x80x9d and which form a horizontal series of single works that do not lead to a specific goal. The lessons in the series are only conceptually related in that the lessons are geared towards some common objective such as hand exercises or timing exercises. The student is expected to perform each lesson and move to the next lesson. In such training, there is little continuity between lessons besides their shared difficulty level or objective. As a result, students do not generally specifically apply what is learned in one lesson to the next, and there is only the most general transference of skill from one lesson to the next.
Several commercially available CD-ROM based music training systems attempt to provide a teacher or mentor function within the program. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,583 to Owen discloses a CD-ROM based musical instruction system that provides both audio and visual instruction materials. The student may choose from the lessons and decide whether or not to view an expert play a piece before practicing. The student may also control the tempo of the lesson. The instrument of the student is connected to the computer containing the CD-ROM. The student may view components of the lesson in the form of musical notes, tablature and video images detailing fingering. This teaching system has a limited measure of interactivity and may not be sufficiently engaging to appeal to a wide audience. Further this system does not provide strong teaching or mentor guidance to the user on the basis of the user""s performance in the program.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,597 to Weinstock et al. discloses an automatic score tracking system. The score tracking system is used to track a performance by an individual performer to a recorded arrangement. The system is flexible, and may be programmed to accept variances from the recorded arrangement, for example changes in tempo or volume. Thus, the score tracking system may be programmed to allow for some degree of creative expression. This teaching system also has a limited measure of interactivity and may not be sufficiently engaging to appeal to a wide audience. Further, while this system assists the user in developing performance techniques, it does not provide strong teaching or mentor guidance to the user on the basis of the user""s performance in the program.
Accordingly, there is a long felt need in field of computer based music education to provide better training tools and methodology for interactive teaching to assist a wide range of students in building high level skills necessary to play musical works, to provide a substantial amount of teaching and mentor guidance to students based on their historical performance in the program, and to provide teachers with improved supervisory capabilities and functionality to help students learn more effectively.
In one aspect the invention provides a computer based music teaching system for training a student to play a musical instrument, said teaching system comprising:
(a) a music input device to accept input from the student and to generate a student data file;
(b) a database coupled to said music input device and adapted to store a lesson data file; and
(c) processing means for comparing said student data file with said lesson data file and providing an evaluation thereof.
In another aspect the invention provides a method of teaching a student how to play a music input device coupled to a computer connected to a communications network, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) transmitting a lesson data file to the computer over the communications network;
(b) displaying the lesson data file to the student;
(c) obtaining a student data file from the student in response; and
(d) evaluating said student data file by comparing said student data file with said lesson data file.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.